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Dodge delaying Challenger Hellcats ordered with satin black hood [UPDATE]

The new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is one of the most formidable muscle cars on the planet. And it looks the part, too – especially with the optional satin black hood. But if you were one of the first customers to place an order for the 707-horsepower Mopar muscle car and specified the black hood on the options sheet, you may have to wait awhile. According to members of the Hellcat.org forum cited by Car and Driver, deliveries of certain Challenger Hellcats have been delayed without explanation. When these fanatic customers started looking into the issue, they realized that all of the delayed orders shared one thing in common: they all had ordered their Dodges with that optional black hood. Although an exact reason wasn't specified, those who ordered the black hood on their Challenger coupes were told that delivery was being pushed back to February. But some were reportedly informed by their local dealership that things could be moved along if they switched their order to a body-colored hood instead. It's not clear if the issue is a supplier problem, a paint booth issue at the factory, or something else entirely. We've reached out to Dodge for clarification, and will update this story when we hear back. UPDATE: Reached for comment, a Dodge spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog that the satin black hood "is not currently available for production" and that customers who ordered it "can opt to change their order to a body-color hood" or otherwise have their orders delayed until the option becomes available at a later date to be confirmed.

Ron Burgundy calls Durango a 'terrible car,' yet his ads help sales climb by 59% [w/videos]

Ron Burgundy was put on this planet to do one thing: to read the news. If that ever falls through, though, the womanizing, scotch-drinking anchorman could have a great career just as a Dodge salesman. Bloomberg points out that sales of the 2014 Dodge Durango have rocketed up 59 percent in the first month of Chrysler's funny new ad campaign (which began in early October). But then again, the entire year has been strong for the big SUV, with year-over-year sales increases in the double and even triple digit percentages - including an increase of 117 percent in August.
Of course, the Durango has also received a wealth of new content and a freshened look for 2014 in addition to the Burgundy campaign, and that has to be helping close sales, too. Whether or not the spots themselves are leading to more sales may be a moot point, since they are definitely getting plenty of attention. Almost two months into the marketing tie-up between Dodge and the movie Anchorman 2, Dodge's YouTube videos have received well over seven million views. More than just YouTube shorts and television commercials, the Durango has even received late-night attention, including when Will Ferrell showed up in character as Ron Burgundy on Conan earlier this week.
In the interview, he calls the Durango a "terrible car" that "cracked in half," a joke that probably had Dodge ad execs squirming uncomfortably in their Barcaloungers. Scroll down to watch the Conan interview as well as some of our favorite Burgundy-pitched Durango ads. And there's still plenty of time to "touch" Ron to win a new Durango.

Chrysler set to make $266M-investment into 8-speed transmission production

Chrysler will shortly make a significant $266-million investment into its Kokomo, IN transmission factory in a bid to expand production of its eight-speed automatic transmissions. The gearboxes, which are built under license from Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen, have been well received by customers and critics, and according to an SEC filing obtained by Automotive News, the transmissions will eventually find their way to all of Chrysler's rear-drive offerings (Viper and heavy-duty Ram models, aside). According to AN, a Chrysler spokesman says the investment has not been confirmed, but once it is, it'll mark the company's latest in a growing line of investments at the facility. Chrysler has poured $1.5 billion into Kokomo since 2009.